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July 29, 2014

Coan Service Repair

Last week we encountered a serious issue when our central air unit stop working in the midst of a heat wave, we were not getting any cold air. This has happened on and off over the past few years and each time we needed to add Freon and presto we had cold air.

We have an old York Central Air Compressor and we know that it needs replacing. The unit looks very old and we are pretty sure that having a new unit would be a money saver, unfortunately we have had several major expenses happen in a short time. This wouldn't be a good time to replace the air compressor.

Coan Visit

We called a local company, Coan in Natick and asked them to come out and take a look at the unit, we told them upfront that we thought we just needed a recharge of Freon. We were delighted that they were able to come out the same day to look at it. They said that they would be there between 10 and 1.

The service man arrived at noon time and first checked the furnace downstairs and determined that it was working fine. He then went outside to the back of the house and took a look at the compressor. He took apart part of the unit and was investigating some of the components. After a few minutes of investigating he told me that the compressor unit wasn't working and that it needed replacement. It wasn't starting up correctly, possibly because of overheating. He suggested that we turn off the unit for at least 24 hours and see if the unit comes back on.

He advised that if the unit did come back on correctly, that we contact Coan Repair and someone would come out and put freon in the compressor, if needed. At this time we asked about how much it would cost to replace the unit. The service person told me that I would have to contact a sales person at Coan for replacement.

Post Coan Visit

We kept the unit off for almost 24 hours and restarted it the next morning. The unit started up fine, as the fan was running like it was before, but there wasn't any of the normal noise. We also notice that there was no cold air coming through the vents. We decided to shut it down and start investigating to replace the unit.

We contacted a sales associate at Coan and they came out the same day. They looked at the outdoor unit and offered a couple of potential solutions to replace our unit. He said that based on our current setup that it was a small job and that they could probably fit it in their schedule. The sales person said that they would go back to the office and send us a quote in the mail.

Additional Resources

While we waited to hear from Coan, we got a space Air Conditioner from a friend. We then talked to our neighbor about the situation and they told us about a company that they used and suggested that we talk to them about replacing the unit, Ashland Air.

A service person came to the house while we were at work, and was able to look at the machine the same day. They identified that the issue was with a broken part and was able to fix it on the spot. He was able to turn the unit on and validate that the unit was working correctly. When we called him later in the day, he told us to turn on the central air in the house and everything should be working fine.

When we got home we turned on the unit and everything was working fine! We felt cold air and by the morning the entire house was at the same temperature.

Now What?

At least for now, the issue appears to be fixed. We are still going to investigate replacing the unit as there are currently a lot of tax incentives and rebates available through Mass Save.

We are very disappointed with the service we got from Coan. They charged us $85 for a 1/2 hour of service time where the service technician appeared to not want to get the unit working. In their recommendation they said, “Tried start kit didn't work. Outdoor Machine Needs Replacement.” I am not sure why they didn't go the extra mile to see why the unit wasn't working. Not sure if this is their usual MO but we feel cheated and will never call them again...

About this Blog Series

The City of Framingham was incorporated on January 1st, 2018. Every Wednesday, I'll highlight something special about Americas newest City.